Category Archives: History

‘Hee Gathered Many Notable Things’

Posted on 14/01/2016 by carolinemmurray

I was recently given one of the most infuriating books it has ever been my misfortune to read. Bound in Venice: The Serene Republic and the Dawn of the Book, by Alessandro Marzo Magno, translated from the Italian by Gregory … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Bibliography, Exploration, History, Literature, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Armenian Bole

Posted on 04/01/2016 by carolinemmurray

No, me either, but I came across the term when I was looking up ‘gesso’, which is (among other things) the adhesive gunge on to which gold leaf is laid in illuminated manuscripts. The recipe for this type of gesso … Continue reading →

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Object of the Month: December

Posted on 30/12/2015 by carolinemmurray

(Coming in just under the wire …) I had already selected this Christmas print from the Fitzwilliam Museum collection when I was astonished to have another confirmation of my theory that Everything is Connected to Everything Else. I’m reading the … Continue reading →

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Plant of the Month: December

Posted on 24/12/2015 by carolinemmurray

Completely predictable this month – it’s holly. And it’s just as well I took some local pictures well in advance, not only because the light levels are a bit grim as we crawl from St Lucy’s Day to the Shortest … Continue reading →

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A Grand Palais Day Out

Posted on 22/12/2015 by carolinemmurray

In order to mark one of those Significant Birthdays, I was offered a jaunt, and, throwing my usual caution (Ely?, or perhaps Bury St Edmunds?) to the winds, said ‘Let’s go to Paris for the day, to see the Vigée … Continue reading →

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Herod, That Moody King

Posted on 16/12/2015 by carolinemmurray

Last Christmas, the Cambridge Library Collection reissued Songs of the Nativity, Being Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern, edited by William Henry Husk (1814–87), a solicitor’s clerk and amateur singer who was librarian of the Sacred Harmonic Society in London. (He … Continue reading →

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Meeting Venus

Posted on 11/12/2015 by carolinemmurray

I had come across Jules Sébastien César Dumont D’Urville when we reissued his Voyage au Pole Sud et dans l’Océanie sur les corvettes l’Astrolabe et la Zélée: Exécuté par ordre du roi pendant les années 1837–1838–1839–1840 (in 10 volumes: the … Continue reading →

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Plant of the Month: November

Posted on 27/11/2015 by carolinemmurray

It’s the beech! But why? Surely it’s at its best in spring, when the pale green, downy leaves unfurl from the elegant, tapering buds? At this time of year, buttery Gingko biloba, the exotic Osage orange, or even hazel, with … Continue reading →

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Object of the Month: November

Posted on 24/11/2015 by carolinemmurray

This month’s object is a bit of a cheat. It is held by the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, but is not currently on display – nor, according to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, when he viewed it in 1833, should it ever have … Continue reading →

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Ghostly Vegetables (Part 3)

Posted on 18/11/2015 by carolinemmurray

Returning to Charles Jones, and the continuing existence (or not) of the varieties he chose to photograph, we have now arrived at flowers and fruit. Of the images selected to be shown in the book, there are twenty flowers and … Continue reading →

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